Golden Blogger Friends!

Thank you, Liebster Award. It’s a chain letter and pay-it forward scheme all in one. I loved my time in the spotlight. The Award, which likes to autocorrect to Lobster Award when you write about it, promotes new bloggers. When you are nominated, you must blog and answer random questions posed by your nominator, and then select more bloggers to do the same thing.  You get to promote your blog and meet other bloggers. The Liebster Award symbolizes what is amazing and positive about social media. I met scintillating bloggers as a result of Liebster, and I keep adding more favorites to my Reader. I reward myself after I complete my writing work for the day, by drinking a favorite beverage and reading  blogs. My own busman’s holiday! Allow me to introduce you!

Maureen was one of my first friends on Twitter.

She blogs at Maureen Aliprandi. She describes her website: “Welcome to my website! Like me, it’s a work in progress. I’ve made a lot of progress learning to live with sugar addiction. Not quite as much with this website. But visit it often! I won’t be serving up sugary treats, but I think the content will be sweet.”  Maureen’s post are equal parts positive information and her witty and droll poetic humor. She is a wonderful friend to walk with on the journey to health.

Barbara Younger is another good person

who is ready with a smile to encourage all of us women (and stalwart husbands) on our middle age journey.  Her aptly named blog, Friend for the Ride gives us tips for the menopause and midlife roller coaster. Her blog was named a top Menopause blog. I always look forward to her ongoing series- The Ladies Room Art Door Art series. Visit her site to see photographs of women’s restroom doors from around the world- and you can even submit your own.

Jean M. Cogdell, is a lively writer

and I follow her for the latest info about the writing world. She is a writer, wife, mom, Oma and dog owner who writes something worth reading, one word at a time in easy to swallow bite size portions. From Jean, I have learned about social media, book cover design, and how to spring clean my computer.

After I read Jean’s “bites”, I head to Janice Hardy’s Fiction University

–Taking your Writing to the Next Level. Janice has information on Planning Your Novel, Writing Your Novel, Common Writing Problems, Editing your Novel, and Selling Your Novel. She also has several regular columns. My favorite is Real Life Diagnostics- where a brave author submits 250 words for a critique. It’s fun to read and see if you agree with Janice’s analysis. (For some reason, this series reminds me of Can This Marriage be Saved.)

Kathy’s Retirement blog focuses on the emotional side of retirement.

Kathy Merlino believes that retirement is a journey, not a destination. She writes about pets, gardening, healthy living and positive lifestyles and is encouraging and friendly, while being honest. In a recent writing, she mused that she was glad that she and her husband had separate iterates in retirement. Her posts win my Most Likely to Share Award.

Arline Miller serves inspiration served one cup at a time.

Arline is a loving person who shares photographs of Joy each day on Twitter. Arline posts frequently about healthy eating and positive living. She tells a story and then ties it together with a deeper, Biblical thought. From eating greens, to wearing rose-colored glasses or fast forwarding your life- you will be inspired by Arline.

I also like to read the ideas of my younger cohorts.

Bryn Donovan has a mega high wattage smile and encourages us to tell your stories love your life. She’s a writer, optimist, and geek who lives in Kansas City. She posts about writing, shares books, and life (101 life goals, 30 days of not being negative.) Bryn writes in an upbeat, witty- we’re sitting in this pub together style. I’m always happy when I see a new post pop up from her.

If you like poetry, solid stories about work and career life, and information about writing and publishing check out the unbreakable Millennial, Mara Prose.

She proclaims “prose is the path I chose!”. Visit her to learn all about the creative genius of Mara, including a Virtual Book Club and a new Lean-In Circle. She is releasing her first book very soon!

Please get to know and support these hard-working and dedicated bloggers. I have more favorite bloggers that I will feature soon, including Stella H. Birell, Andre Begin, Adella Crandall Durkee and Molly D. Campbell. They are worth following!